Holly: I'm somewhat bemused to be arguing with you on how long it takes to redo a bath, because I'm usually the one saying "no way that contractor should take a month to remodel your bathroom; it should be 1 week tops!" But I just finished tiling a tub surround with subways and it took 2 full Saturdays for tiling only. Granted, that included a window and a niche, and a glass listello, but there are still plenty of cuts on ends/corners. You also neglected the paint-on waterproofing over the cement board, which needs a day to dry, though you do have the plastic moisture barrier, so that could be omitted. You also forgot the 14 trips to Home Depot for the stuff you forgot to buy or didn't get enough of. Or the new stuff you need because you encountered something unexpected. Oh, and my weekends are only 2 days long. :-) In any case, we're hijacking the poor OP's thread. Sorry about that, clueless. Our 1920 house has lathe and plaster walls but the outside walls all have boards with grooves routered into them for the plaster keys to hold to. Does it look something like this? Also, the wire mesh is used in an older method of tiling, that entails embedding the mesh in concrete, making a pretty thick and incredibly stable wall. However, it's done in lieu of plaster, not behind it, so I'm not sure why it's there in your situation. Bill V could probably tell you how/why it was constructed that way, though I haven't seen him around for a while. You might also try posting in the Old House forum for someone who might be able to explain the construction. What everyone else has said is correct, however: you need to not just put plaster and tile back here. You either need to cover it up short term with something that will protect it from further damage, like a sheet of acrylic or fiberglass surround, or else rip it out and repair it. You could also just rip the whole thing out and put in an acrylic/fiberglass surround for a few hundred bucks and some elbow grease.

Sorry, but that's a recipe for disaster. You're not going to get anything like plaster to stay on plastic walls in a bathroom and look good or hold up over time. If you really hate these walls, paper over them, or rip them off and do a proper sheetrock job.

Maybe someone else has, but I've never heard of a case in which the size of the house affects the cost of a leak repair. I suppose it's possible that some tradespeople might bid higher if you have an imposing chateau and they think that you can afford it! :) Without seeing the situation it's impossible for anyone here to guess what the cost might be. Even then, local costs vary widely, to say nothing of differences from country to country (GW is mostly US-focused). Tradespeople in rural areas and small towns seem to charge significantly less than those in big cities where the cost of living is much higher. In my very limited experience, that seems to be as true in Europe as in the States. Your inspector's estimate may have been unrealistic. I don't know about inspection practice in the UK, but here in the States, inspections are optional (not required by law) and are paid for by the home buyer. Often the inspector is hired at the suggestion of the buyer's estate agent handling the transaction, who has an incentive to recommend someone who won't discourage the sale. I suggest that, if you haven't already, you contact a few other tradespeople and have them submit their own bids. Good luck!

Typically, water valve repair plates are used to cover the damage. But whomever did this job didn't do much to minimize the damage. Water valve repair plate. Here's a good set of instructions. But not easy for a novice. And a real pain if you don't have any spares of the original tiles.